The Cultural Fallacy of Independence

[Note:  If you have yet to read my introductory post, go read it, its a prerequisite

http://valuesofadevilsadvocate.blogspot.com/2013/07/facts-and-values-1-3a.html ]

I was having a discussion with an older gentleman the other day in a Starbucks where he made the assertion that nobody gave him anything in life and that he had worked for everything (though he later admitted to me that he was in the military which I find sorta funny).  I immediately was skeptical and told him so but I can see that our conversation wasn't too productive for either of us so I've decided to get my thoughts out in this post to try and show exactly why I believe most claims of individualism or independence is an incoherent concept.  I'm willing to bet that this probably wont convince anyone who currently holds this sort of cultural misconception ( I'm sure those sort of people would never be interested in a rational discussion of values and facts with me regardless), though it might be useful so I shall try.  The idea that you are an individual who is responsible for everything you've accomplished, that everything you are currently capable of doing, that everything currently in your control is all due to the fact that you 'worked hard' to achieve those things, is what I would call a perfect example of where 'Intellectual Honesty' has failed.  

The Toyota you drove (on roads built by the government) to the Shell Gas station to fill up your tank with oil pumped by BP (British Petroleum) and maybe grabbed some Fritos corn chips and a CocoCola soft drink before picking up a cheeseburger at McDonalds to fill you up before that important phone call (on your iPhone) about maybe taking a trip to Target to buy a new Acer Laptop for your son who is getting a degree at Harvard, kinda show that you have many people you depend on regularly.  Specifically referring to the computer or mobile device your using to read this article, do you really think it was worth the 200-1000 dollars you spent on it?  Do you really believe that a textbook that explains in detail the learned knowledge of the past 300 years of electricity that took the hard work, blood (at times), sweat, tears and devotion of generations working together was really only worth the 200-400 dollars you spent on it?  I don't.  I think you are being given a huge gift through the miracle of economics and social cooperation.  When thought about for any reasonable length of time it becomes non-credible that people honestly believe that they can be 'independent' from any outside influences.  

  

If you want to be a real independent person who can truly say that they weren't given anything, then I would suggest for you to throw away your cell phones and computers (do you really believe the $50 a month for internet service is a fair trade?), throw away your Toyota's and air conditioned homes (do you really think the 4,000 to 25,000 dollars you paid for your car is a fair trade of value?) and get rid of any tools and clothing manufactured by our large industrial machinery and go live in the woods.  Start making your own tools out of rocks and bones, start building your own structures out of logs and leaves, start farming your own fruits and vegetables, start trying to figure out how to build your own electronics, start trying to come up with your own solutions to all the horrifying diseases and predators of the wild.  Otherwise perhaps this idea of being independent isn't really about the actual meaning of independence but more used as a means to control and shame others to live the lives that those who employ that tactic think people should be living.

My Devils Advocate now pops up and starts shouting:  

But wait, couldn't this shame tactic be a useful thing for people?  What if people weren't interested in putting in a lot of effort into the amazing things that make up our world?  Wouldn't it be useful to shame people into this incoherent position of always trying to be independent from others, that way through their misguided efforts they end up adding value to the world?

As far as I am concerned, in ideal cases, the truth should always be deferred to, though I do understand that some people aren't reflective types who attempt to maximize their epistemic and instrumental rationality and so there 'could' be an argument to the effect that the efforts put into simply lying to people would maximize the effects while minimizing the investment of time and effort compared to what the alternative strategies would call for, HOWEVER that seems to be the laziest and least instrumental strategy in terms of how to shape the cultural landscape (which is what we are talking about when we start dealing with arguments that advocate lying as a means to an ends) with the implicit goal of wanting a highly motivated and productive population.  In fact, going the lazy route would be contributing to the opposite of those goals once individuals discover the truth when compared to the possible scenarios presented by the alternative strategies / cultures as well as many other problems.  One of the largest problems presented by this lazy strategy is the fact that simple problems that have been solved long ago have to keep being solved over and over again when efforts could be put into solving real problems that haven't been fully tackled, sorta like trying to reinvent the 300 years of 'Science of Electronics' on your own instead of being the good for nothing freeloader and opening a textbook (if that upsets you, its ok, emotions are fine and of course they do have an impact on your willingness to adopt certain values so I would hope that you try and examine why it is that your becoming emotional and if that reaction is something you would've had if you hadn't received the incoherent conditioning in the first place). There is something to be said about building up a skill set in order to have the capability to contribute in a meaningful way, sorta like an athlete that trains all summer long for the upcoming season, but that's not what is happening and any argument made to try and frame the situation to look as if that is what is happening is disgustingly fallacious.  The last analogy to use before its time to move on would be that, there are physical exercises, such as dwarf jacks (which is a modified version of a jumping jack, just in the full squat position) that do nothing for your physical improvement and simply cause pain.